KEA president says board should have continued superintendent search

The president of the Kent Education Association (KEA, teachers union) says the Kent School Board should have searched for more candidates rather than hiring Israel Vela as superintendent.

“We felt that needed to happen to get somebody who is the right fit for Kent,” said KEA President Tim Martin in an April 21 phone interview. “We expressed our concerns to the board about the candidates and we were told, ‘Well, that’s the best we can get.’”

The board voted 3-2 April 20 to hire Vela, who has worked as the Kent School District interim superintendent since August after Calvin Watts left for a superintendent job with Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia.

“They’re settling and we should never settle,” Martin said. “The board has one main job and that is to hire and fire the superintendent.”

Board President Leslie Hamada and directors Tim Clark and Awale Farah voted to hire Vela, a longtime employee of the Kent district. Directors Michele Bettinger and Joe Bento opposed the hire because they wanted to start the search over.

Martin agreed with Bettinger and Bento, who also opposed hiring one of the other two finalists. The other finalists were Keisha Scarlett, assistant superintendent of academics for Seattle Public Schools and Mary Templeton, superintendent of the Washougal School District, just east of Vancouver in Clark County.

Martin said the KEA put out a message to its members to email the board prior to its vote.

“We expressed concerns about the three finalists,” he said.

Martin said the board had the option to search for more candidates. McPherson and Jacobson, the Nebraska-search firm hired by the district for $25,500 to find candidates, attracted 24 job applicants. The search firm narrowed that list to eight and the board picked three finalists.

Like other people in the district, Martin had heard even prior to the vote that Vela would get the job.

“We’re not surprised,” Martin said. “We were told that was more than likely the outcome.”

The KEA has several unresolved issues with the district, including a continued vacancy for the head of Human Resources; key positions are quitting; no plan to offer the SAT, a component to a graduation pathway; and it says Vela is tap dancing around the budget and enrollment issues, clearly waiting until a vote for superintendent is passed.

“Israel is lovely to talk to and a very nice guy,” Martin said. “We don’t feel he’s effective in his role.”

Martin said there are issues that Vela is obligated to resolve and that he does not get issues resolved.

After the selection of Vela, Hamada released a statement in support of the hiring.

“As a spokesperson for the entire board, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Kent School District Board of Directors has selected a member of our community who has called Kent home for years,” Hamada said. “He has years of experience, plus adds to the district by speaking dual languages. Going forward, it will take our entire community to get behind Mr. Israel Vela, our next superintendent, to make it rise to a top district in the state.”